I recently watched a replay of Sept. 6’s Kaua’i County Council meeting on Ho’ike TV and was witness to the incident in which Councilman Billy Swain was called to task for supposedly being disrespectful to some lady spokesman for the
I recently watched a replay of Sept. 6’s Kaua’i County Council meeting on
Ho’ike TV and was witness to the incident in which Councilman Billy Swain was
called to task for supposedly being disrespectful to some lady spokesman for
the Sierra Club who was espousing the club’s position on whether or not a
proposed resort being built by the Robinson family was or was not being placed
too near the coastline.
Mr. Swain asked this woman a simple question about
a piece of shorefront property she had just purchased, and why it was okay for
her but not for the Robinsons. At this point, the woman became indignant and
scolded Mr. Swain for asking questions she thought were irrelevant, and how
dare he put a poor, private citizen who was nice enough to come testify on the
spot, for sharing her views with the great people of this Island.
Billy
Swain was courteous enough to apologize to her, but I wish he hadn’t. What for?
She was singing the fight-song of an organization whose principles are
supposedly hers, if not in fact, then in convenience. It’s obvious that she has
an agenda of her own, and hypocritical in nature. Mr. Swain must have been the
only council member awake enough during her testimony to take umbrage at her
“Do as I say, not as I do” attitude.
I believe Billy Swain should be
applauded for having the courage to uncover hypocrisy and those who use causes
to advance their own agendas. Mine might not be the most popular view in the
world, but here it is: Anyone who owns property should be allowed to do what he
or she wants to do with it, end of story. What was the point of creating the
Bill of Rights if you have to get someone’s permission to exercise them? I
don’t recall reading that amendment in school.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t
think you should have a chemical dump in your back yard because there’s room
for it. The public health interest must prevail, of course. But if you can’t
see the ocean because of a building on my property, too bad. I think you should
walk to where you can see. The main point is that trying to make Billy Swain
out to be a bad guy for pointing out the truth is pure horse manure, and I, for
one, hope that he does the same thing every time he gets the opportunity. I
love it when people gasp like a fish out of water when someone drops a
philosophical bomb on them. Go, Billy!
DANIEL W. BONANNO
Kapa’a
